Crypto Exchanges

Story: Coinbase Brings INR Order Books and Perpetuals to 1.4 Billion People

By Maheen Hernandez

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Perpetuals Enter the Picture. The perpetuals piece is probably the more aggressive move.

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What Coinbase Didn't Say. There's a lot the company hasn't disclosed. No partnerships with Indian financial institutions…

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Coinbase is pushing into India. Hard. The Nasdaq-listed exchange has rolled out Indian Rupee order books for local users and, on top of that, opened up access to perpetual…

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The INR order books are pretty much exactly what they sound like: dedicated liquidity pools priced in rupees rather than dollars or stablecoins.

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The perpetuals piece is probably the more aggressive move. Perpetual contracts — derivatives with no expiry date that let traders hold leveraged positions indefinitely — are a…

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Leveraged products carry real risk, and that's not lost on anyone. But demand for them in India has been obvious for years.

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No specific volume figures or user numbers came with the announcement. Unclear yet how quickly adoption will ramp.

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There's a lot the company hasn't disclosed. No partnerships with Indian financial institutions were announced. No details on regulatory conversations with local authorities.

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India's crypto regulatory picture has shifted a lot over the past few years. A 30% flat tax on crypto gains and a 1% tax deducted at source on transactions came into force in…

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See also: Coinbase vs JPMorgan: CLARITY Act Stablecoin Fight Splits Wall Street and Crypto

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Whether Coinbase has had direct conversations with the Financial Intelligence Unit or other Indian bodies about the perpetuals offering specifically — no details on that.

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It's also worth noting that Coinbase has had a complicated history in India. The exchange launched UPI-based payments in the country back in 2022, then pulled the feature almost…

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INR liquidity first. Derivatives alongside. Payments, maybe, later.

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The broader context matters here. Crypto adoption across Asia has grown sharply, and India specifically has a young, tech-comfortable population that's shown real willingness to…

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More context: Coinbase Becomes First U.S. Exchange to Win Global Perps Approval

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